Kazakhstan

French presence

French community in Kazakhstan: 285 residents (2024) 
Consulate General: Almat

Visits

Four bilateral presidential visits have been made since 2009 (two to Paris and two to Astana), as have many ministerial and parliamentary contacts. President François Hollande visited Astana on 4 and 5 December 2014 and President Nazarbayev visited Paris from 4 to 6 November 2015. Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov took part in the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Central Asian countries on 29 March 2017. On 6 and 7 September 2017, the French Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, visited the “Astana 2017” Expo. French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire visited Kazakhstan on 31 July 2019 and the Kazakh Foreign Minister, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, visited France on 4 December 2019. The French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester, visited Kazakhstan on 12 and 13 March 2021. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made his first European visit to Paris after being re-elected on 30 November 2022. Isabelle Dumont, a political adviser to President Macron, and Minister Delegate Olivier Becht visited Astana in April 2023 where they were received by President Tokayev. President Macron made an official visit to Kazakhstan on 1 November as part of his tour in Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan). President Tokayev made a state visit to France on 4 November 2024. The French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad, Laurent Saint-Martin, visited Astana on 29 and 30 May for a “Journée France” and the Astana International Forum, along with a business delegation. 

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Our cultural network in Kazakhstan is made up of four Alliance Française branches, which have a total of 2,000 students enrolled. 
After those of Almaty (created in 2004, 950 students in 2019), Astana (created in 2005, 612 students), two new Alliance Française branches were established in recent years by the Alliance Française Foundation: Chymkent and Karaganda. 

Scientific and technical cooperation is structured around two French-Kazakh training and research institutes: 
 
I.  The Sorbonne-Kazakhstan Institute, inaugurated by François Hollande and Nursultan Nazarbayev on 6 December 2014. Study opportunities in economy, law and international relations are based on a triple partnership with the Universtité de Poitiers, the Université de Lorraine and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO). Two dual degree programmes and two university degree programmes are currently offered.   
II. The French-Kazakh Centre for Research and Training “Geo-Energies”, created in 2010 by the Université de Lourraine and the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, one of the main universities in Kazakhstan with 24,000 students. 
This centre has already awarded nearly 100 “Énergies” master’s degrees and has awarded some ten doctorate degrees. There are also several co-funded scholarship programmes: Abai-Verne, Make Our Planet Great Again, Aralia (Fondation de France) and Pont des Arts (International Art Development Association).

Other cooperation

The Agence Française de Développement started working in Kazakhstan after President Macron’s visit to Astana in November 2023 and has developed programmes dedicated to female entrepreneurship, the resilience of the health system and water resource management.